Austria during Xmas/New Years (skiing)

The wife and I usual chase summer whenever we travel, but after spending the last couple Christmases in Brasil we are thinking a proper European winter destination would be fun. After a bit of research, we narrowed it down to Switzerland and Austria, but we fell in love what Switzerland has to offer in the Summer and will save it for next year. That leaves us with Austria. We’d have about 10 days and I was thinking splitting the time evenly between Vienna, Salzburg, and a typical alpine village. Maybe try to fit a day in Hallstatt.

My biggest concerns are about finding a nice alpine village with enough things to do. We don’t ski, but would love to learn. From my research it seems like accommodation minimums of 1 full week is typical, but we’d only want 3-4 nights. Also, given the chance we don’t take well to skiing, we’d like to be in a place that we can enjoy without the slopes. In my head I was picturing a small to medium picturesque village that is walkable with a decent selection of eateries, bars, and cafes.

Is it possible to still find accommodation for something like this? Does it even exist? Do skiing places sell day or 3 day passes? I’m a little afraid we are being naive in creating an ideal xmas type destination in our heads compared what the reality will be. Any specific recs on ski towns?

Also, if anybody has any other recs on sightseeing in Austria in the winter, it would be greatly appreciated. Any opera or show tips in Vienna?

Jeff,

I haven’t skied in Europe, but regularly ski all over the US and Canada. I’m sure that most (if not all) ski areas in Austria will sell 3 day passes. My concerns would be as follows:

  1. Might not be a lot of snow that early in the season. That said, assuming you’re sticking mostly to beginner trails (as you will be just learning) you may be okay.
  2. Skiing involves a lot of gear. You can rent skis, boots, poles, helmets, etc. But that still means you’re carrying jackets, pants, gloves, base layers, goggles, socks, etc. Its a lot of bulky stuff.

There is a great skiing thread somewhere in the Asylum where some of the regulars have posted great stuff about skiing in Europe and Austria. I’m sure you can get some good info there.

As a side note, I’m not sure how old you and your wife are, but IMHO there are only a small handful of sports you can do as a family and for a lifetime. Golf, tennis, and skiing are the three that come to mind. Some of my favorite memories are of skiing with my family. Welcome to the club.

Jeff,

No issue with buying lift pass for 3 days and renting equipment for the same time. Issue will be finding anywhere willing to let you stay just 3/4 nights during the busiest week of the season when everyone else stays for a week. Can’t see any hotel or chalet accepting that. In terms of places to stay in Austria, there are loads: Kitzbuhel, St Anton (bigger but therefore lots to do aside from skiing), Lech, Mayrhofen, Obergurgl, Zell am See etc etc.

Dan

Maybe you can find a hotel in someplace like St. Anton, but you had better do it ASAP or forget it. You could also stay in Innsbruck and train it back and forth to St Anton. I did it once and if I recall correctly, it was a little over an hour.

Book a gear/lesson/lift package for the three days and give yourself a chance to actually try it out. If you can afford a private, even better. One day may be hit or miss, and it would be a shame to abandon skiing over one bad day. In three, you’ll have a better realistic idea as to whether you like it or not, and I’ll bet hyou that you’ll be surprised how quickly you advance. Just remember, everyone feels incompetent at first, but every single person zooming past you was in your shoes once. Also, part of skiing is enjoying being in the mountains. You can take a lot of the lifts up to enjoy it, then ride them back down, too.

I would suggest spending some time in Salzburg and then go on to Schladming. It’s less than 45 min from Salzburg and is a pleasant small town with great skiing and a ski school that is always great -Schladming Ski Resort Guide | Snow-Forecast.com

Thanks for the responses. We actually decided to move the trip up for the week before Xmas, which opens up the accommodation options dramatically.

It does but it also increases the snow shortage risk that early in the season, especially in Austria, where there are lots of low resorts. Look for somewhere with plenty of skiing above 2000m and other stuff to do just in case.

Great tip. Thanks for pointing this out.